Chief Human Resources Officer

Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) M.S. Walker | Headquarters: Norwood, MA | Executive Leadership Team

Reports to: Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

About M.S. Walker M.S. Walker is a family-owned importer, distributor, and wholesaler of wine and spirits, in operation for 90+ years and serving customers across the Northeast, and the country. Ours is an asset-intensive business with distribution centers, warehousing, and a delivery fleet supported by a large, multi-state workforce that spans salaried professionals, hourly warehouse and logistics teams, and union-represented employees.

We are making a deliberate, multi-year investment in the future of our people function coupled with strategic technological investments. This newly defined CHRO role is the cornerstone of that effort.

The Opportunity This is a build role, not a caretaker role. Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer and serving as a member of the executive leadership team, the CHRO will define and lead the people strategy for the enterprise during a period of intentional transformation of the HR function: modernizing infrastructure and data, professionalizing talent and leadership development, strengthening labor and employee relations, and elevating total rewards and compensation strategy.

The successful candidate inherits a function with a clear mandate to bring enterprise-level structure, judgment, and expertise to how the company attracts, develops, rewards, retains, and partners with its people. This role carries genuine scope to shape the function rather than simply administer it.

Scope & Reporting

• Reports to: Chief Financial Officer, with a seat on the executive leadership team and direct access to ownership and senior leadership on all people-related matters.
• Direct reports: Director, Employee Relations & HR Operations; Director, Learning & Development (to be hired); oversight of Talent Acquisition and supporting HR functions.
• Workforce: Multi-state, multi-classification population including salaried, hourly/non-exempt, and union-represented employees across distribution, logistics, and corporate functions.

Key Responsibilities Enterprise HR Strategy & Workforce Planning

• Develop and lead a multi-year people strategy aligned with business goals and growth plans.
• Assess workforce needs across functions and locations, ensuring the organization is structured to scale effectively.
• Provide data-driven insight and recommendations to executive leadership and ownership.

Labor & Employee Relations

• Serve as the senior strategic owner of the company's labor relations strategy across all represented locations.
• Lead or oversee collective bargaining preparation, negotiations, and contract administration, partnering with outside labor counsel.
• Proactively manage grievances, arbitrations, and union relationships to minimize disruption and risk.
• Build management capability and consistency in handling both represented and non-represented employee matters.

Total Rewards, Benefits & Compensation

• Partner with Finance and the benefits broker to shape and govern health and welfare strategy, including self-funded plan design, stop-loss strategy, and multi-year cost management.
• Develop the company's compensation philosophy, job architecture, pay bands, and incentive structures.
• Ensure pay equity and market competitiveness across a multi-state, multi-classification workforce.

Executive Partnership & Organizational Leadership

• Serve as a strategic advisor to the executive team and ownership on all people-related matters.
• Provide guidance on organizational challenges, talent gaps, and leadership effectiveness.
• Align leadership decisions with long-term workforce strategy.

Organizational Design & Effectiveness

• Evaluate and optimize organizational structure, reporting relationships, and role design.
• Lead change management to support the organization's evolution.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, clarity, and scalability.

Leadership Development & Talent Strategy

• Own leadership development strategy and long-term talent and succession planning.
• Partner with the Director of Learning & Development to build leadership capability at every level and strengthen succession processes.
• Oversee talent acquisition strategy to attract and retain talent across corporate and operational roles.
• Develop and implement a performance management system to better drive internal career progression.

Corporate Communications & Organizational Alignment

• Establish and lead a company-wide employee communication strategy.
• Improve consistency, transparency, and clarity in how priorities, decisions, and expectations are shared.
• Strengthen alignment between corporate and operational teams.

Culture, Engagement & Employee Experience

• Define and support cultural priorities and employee experience initiatives.
• Identify and address engagement gaps and communication breakdowns.
• Ensure employees experience consistency in leadership, messaging, and support.

HR Technology, Data & Operations

• Provide executive oversight of the HRIS/payroll platform and the data foundation for workforce decision-making.
• Drive operational maturity, process standardization, and reporting and analytics across the function.

Compliance, Safety, Risk & Governance

• Provide strategic oversight of multi-state employment law compliance (wage and hour, classification, leave, pay transparency, and related areas).
• Oversee workplace safety, workers' compensation, and operational people-risk in an asset-intensive, multi-site environment.
• Partner with legal and outside counsel on high-risk, labor, and governance matters.

Qualifications Required

• 15+ years of progressive HR leadership, including senior executive (CHRO / VP HR) accountability for a multi-site enterprise.
• Demonstrated HR leadership in an asset-intensive, operational industry — distribution, logistics, wholesale, manufacturing, transportation, or similar — with a substantial hourly / non-exempt workforce.
• Direct labor relations and collective bargaining experience, including leading or co-leading union negotiations and contract administration.
• Multi-state employment law and compliance fluency (wage and hour, classification, leave, pay transparency).
• Experience building or modernizing core HR infrastructure — HRIS, data, and process — not solely operating a mature function.
• Strong business and financial acumen; able to partner credibly with Finance and frame people decisions in P&L and risk terms.
• Executive presence and communication skills to influence at the ownership / principal level.

Preferred / Differentiators

• Self-funded health plan strategy and total rewards design experience, ideally in close partnership with Finance.
• Compensation architecture and pay equity experience across a distributed, mixed-classification workforce.
• Experience operating within a family-owned and/or private-equity-backed business, with the maturity and judgment to navigate ownership dynamics and influence family / principal stakeholders constructively.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent certification.

Location & Travel Based at company’s headquarters in Norwood, MA Hybrid approach with preference for 3-4 days in office. Periodic travel to multi-state distribution and operating locations required.

Compensation Total compensation range: $225,000 – $300,000 (commensurate with experience)

Benefits We offer a Comprehensive Benefits Plan that includes the following:

• Medical & Dental Insurance
• Vision Coverage
• Paid-Time-Off Program
• Fidelity Investments 401k
• Disability, Life, Accident & Illness Insurance Packages
• Discounted Fitness Memberships
• Free & Discounted Work/Life Resources
• Career Advancement Opportunities

Mission Statement Since 1933, our mission has been firmly rooted in our core values of family, integrity, respect, honesty, and hard work. We are deeply committed to upholding these principles for our team members, customers and suppliers alike. We seek to build and maintain long-lasting relationships based on trust and reliability. By honoring our heritage and embracing innovation, we aim to continuously improve and adapt to meet the evolving needs of our industry, while responsibly contributing to the communities we serve. Together, we strive to elevate the spirit of hospitality and foster a vibrant and respectful culture in all facets of the organization and beyond.

Equal Opportunity M.S. Walker is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.